Christmas 2011

We spent Christmas this year in Elko.  We traded presents with Cassidy's family on Thursday night before we went to Nevada, but we forgot the camera so no pictures from then.  We went bowling on Christmas Eve and that night Cass, BJ, and my dad got to drive to Wells to pick up some stranded family on their way to Reno which was really nice of them.  So here are some pictures from Christmas day because that is the only time the camera came out.  We had a fun weekend with the family and hope that everyone else had a very merry Christmas as well.

Cass with his new toy.  Can you tell he is excited about it?

 BJ with his new favorite shirt.  He is pretty excited to wear it next month when he comes to see his new nephew :)

 LaWayne got BYU blue hot chocolate in her stocking. 

Just chilling enjoying a nice day with family.  We were very spoiled with presents this year and are incredibly grateful for our families and their generosity.    

Christmas Preparations

Every year I make Cass do a gingerbread house with me.  The last two years we haven't had gingerbread (because I don't actually know how to make it I just beg my dad and we haven't been to Elko for Thanksgiving- hence no gingerbread) so we have made do with graham crackers because I refuse to buy one of those pre made kits.  We were a little late this year getting it made because of finals and family things going on, but here is what we came up with this year.  

 Hard at work.  I think Cass really does enjoy this activity even if he doesn't openly admit it :)

 The finished product.  I hope it makes you all think Mele Kalikimaka.

 And then just because this has become my way to keep track of our family history here are some pictures of our Christmas decorations.

 It can't be Christmas without a chocolate nativity.  Thanks dad for getting me the mold so that I can make my own every year.  

Our tree with the lights on and off.  Look at all those presents.  Too bad none are for us.

Before Cassidy's grandma died she had knitted everyone in the family matching stockings.  Sherrie found a lady to knit similar ones for those of us who have joined the family since the stockings were made.  Here are ours.  Even baby Alden has one already I am so excited to see his name up on our wall everyday.  He is due exactly one month from today :)

We hope everyone else is getting in to the Christmas spirit, but also taking time to remember why we celebrate this special time of the year.  

Party Time!

December has been a busy month already for us filled mostly with parties :)  The best part of this fact is that we got to spend lots of time with both our families including this adorable guy :) 

 The Norton family came from Las Vegas and Elko the first weekend in December for Randi's baby shower.  The guys went bowling while the girls hung out in South Jordan tying a quilt, eating, playing games and opening presents.

 Isn't this place cool?

 I love this cute Jazz outfit!

 My friend Shawna gave us this cute basket of pajamas, one outfit every month for Alden's first year.  

The next weekend we went to Cassidy's family Christmas party at Classic Skate.  The kids had a good time skating and we enjoyed getting to watch everyone have fun.  We even got to see Santa on roller skates :)

 Treygann didn't last long on the roller skates before he traded them in for a skooter.  Dane did well at being there help everyone find their skate legs. 

 Several of the cousins lined up to play red light, green light.

A full weekend

It was a busy weekend in Utah so there are a couple of things going on in this post we hope you can keep up :)  Starting things off is a picture history of Randi's baby belly.  We are at 31 weeks now so not much longer to go.

19 Weeks

23 Weeks

27 Weeks

Today at 31 weeks

Next up a baby shower.  Cassidy's brother and sister-in-law were in town this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving a little earlier (they both have to work the day after Thanksgiving so we had dinner on Saturday with them).  Laura is also expecting their first child about 7 weeks after Randi so while they were in town Cassidy's family threw a combined baby shower.  All of the sisters and most of the cousins from Cassidy's mom's side of the family came as well as Cassidy's dad's mom.  It was a good time of just talking, lots of eating, and more presents than expected.  Here are some pictures of the shower.

Carolyn and here daughters made us each a quilt.  We also got a pack-n-play, swing, clothes, gift card, and diapers.  The family was so generous and we appreciate it all. 

This picture is just because Laura hates having her picture taken and hates even more to have it shown to other people :)

Final story of the post is the Ward Turkey Shoot.  Cassidy got put in charge of an Elders quorum this last Saturday. A few of them went out east of Utah Lake and did some skeet shooting. 

Over all we spent three hours shooting and went through 4 boxes of clay pigeons.

While Cassidy did not win he did tie for fourth place and got a cornish game hen. He shot an 18 out of 20 while the winner had a perfect score and got a turkey.

All in all we had a blast even with the snow storm the night before.

The Last November

We have agreed that this was our last trip to Las Vegas in November. For those who remember our last year's trip, we got caught in a snow storm and spent an extra night in Cedar City. Well once again we ended up coming home a day later than expected, but this time it was car trouble.  Before I get to our last day of adventure let me tell you about the great weekend we had with the Nortons and the Garcias.

Usually every November the Nortons have a guys weekend and well this was it. So Saturday when we got there Randi, Jerri, and LaWayne went out shopping and Brian, BJ, and Cassidy went to the Clark County Shooting Range and had a blast shooting some of Cass's guns.

Sorry no photos of the women and if you are wondering Rudy and Jamie were home entertaining the Garcia family.

Well I have to admit we did not make our way down to Las Vegas for a guys and girls weekend. The real reason why we all made the trip down to Las Vegas was for Jonathan's blessing.

The blessing went well, Rudy did a great job!

The rest of the Sunday was spent at the Garcia's house filled with food and playing games.

On our way home on Monday everything was going well. We said goodbye to everyone and we were off at a reasonable hour. After we made it about 40 miles out of Las Vegas our car started to lose power and the check engine light came on. We were lucky enough to make it to an exit with a casino and restrooms while we waited at least an hour and a half for the tow truck.

To make a long story short we ended up spending an extra night in Vegas to find out we just had a spark plug wire fail. 

After another great night spent with BJ, Jamie, and Rudy we got our car back on the road once again to Utah which went off without a hitch.

Thanks BJ and the Garcias for helping us out with everything.